1916 -local dimensions

by Merv Thu Apr 27, 2006 23:37

An Irishwoman's Diary

Lorna Siggins

For some, he's the loner hanging around outside Cuba nightclub; for others, he's just the "stone stiff" at the top of Eyre Square, writes Lorna Siggins.

The name Liam Mellows may not mean much to some of Galway's younger generation, but his statue was in constant company a couple of Sundays back when political activists queued to lay green wreaths at his cold, grey feet.

First out were members of Republican Sinn Féin, who say they have never forgotten the leader of the western wing of volunteers back in 1916. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin followed, but before all that there was an attempt to clothe him in a white T-shirt bearing the slogan "Mise Iraic". Although the stunt lasted less than an hour, it gave enough time for supporters of the Galway Alliance Against War campaign to snap a few photographs for the web.

A similar banner was placed under Mellows's chin later that morning when Abubaker Deghayes stood up on the plinth. A healthcare worker living in Brighton, Abubaker is brother of Libyan lawyer Omar Deghayes, one of the longest-serving internees among almost 600 people of various nationalities held without trial in the US military base at Guantánamo Bay.

The Deghayes family have been British residents since 1987, having fled Libya after their father, a trade unionist, was killed by Col Ghaddafi. Omar, the father of a four-year old son, was kidnapped in Pakistan in April 2002 and taken to Guantánamo. He has been blinded in one eye and tortured, according to Amnesty International, which has been campaigning for his release.

Omar Deghayes has limited access to his lawyer,and is now believed to be on hunger strike, according to his brother. His mother, Zohra Zwawi, also living in Brighton, is very distressed by the situation, while Omar's wife, Mariam, and four-year-old son, Solyman, are with her family in Kabul, Afghanistan. "It is not easy for them," Abubaker explains. Omar has not seen his son since he was a baby, and the child is "citizenless", with no passport, while his father is still detained.

The Deghayes family took a joint action against the British government over its failure to represent eight British residents held at the military base, and the outcome of the judicial review is expected very shortly.

"Guantánamo Bay is being used by the US to intimidate all of us, and Shannon is being used as part of a system taking people illegally to such detention centres," Abubaker Deghayes said. He appealed to Irish people to mark the "spirit of 1916" by campaigning for an end to such abuse of Shannon and by "helping oppressed peoples" throughout the world.

NUI Galway history lecturer Dr John Cunningham, who was present under the Mellows statue on April 16th to hear Mr Deghayes's moving testimony, has his own plans for marking the self-same "spirit" of nine decades past. Dublin was the dominant focus of the recent commemorations and the continuing "conversations and investigations". He believes that this is "quite understandable", but it means that various regional 1916 mobilisations have been "almost completely overlooked".

The "Rising" had been envisaged as a countrywide insurrection, Dr Cunningham says. Preparations for military action were made in many parts of Ireland, and a "local history" approach may present a challenge to certain established "notions", such as the "blood sacrifice" representation. As host of a conference on the subject in NUI, Galway next month, he intends to address the Rising's impact on a Galway community which was, he says, "completely preoccupied with the European conflict of the day".

Prof Charles Townshend of Keele University, author of the definitive Easter 1916, published by Penguin Books, will provide an overview of the Rising's conception and planning, while Dr Mary Harris of NUI Galway, will consider its political impact on nationalist and unionist communities in Ulster. Dr Fergus Campbell, author of Land and Revolution, Nationalist Politics in the West of Ireland 1891-1921, will look at the role played by an agrarian secret society in the Easter week mobilisation of some 600 Galway volunteers.

Conor McNamara will speak about the response of Galway's "loyal citizens" in suppressing the revolt - confined to Athenry, Moyode Castle and Oranmore - while Henry Goff will discuss the rebellion in Wexford. Marie Coleman and Brendan O'Shea will give perspectives from Longford and Cork respectively, while Maurice O'Keeffe has a taped testimony of participants in Kerry.

Independent councillor Seosamh Ó Cuaig, who has been campaigning for a promised interpretative centre for Patrick Pearse's cottage in Rosmuc, will introduce a documentary, Taibhsí na Staire. It deals with the relationships of Pearse and the Earl of Dudley, Lord Lieutenant, with the Rosmuc community. Pearse fell in love with Rosmuc after visiting the area in 1903 as an examiner for Conradh na Gaeilge. He chose the site for his summer home across the road from Inver Lodge, the estate owned by Dudley.

The conference, entitled "1916 - Local Dimensions" will take place on May 19th, from 3.30pm, and throughout May 20th in NUI, Galway. There will be a concurrent exhibition on the theme in the college's James Hardiman library. All sessions are open to the public, and admission is free.